Spirit
by paint.stains
Summary: Natsume Hyuuga, a prodigy guitarist, was seized of his fame-filled high city life and was assigned to a rural located high school to fulfill his father's wishes. Enter Mikan, the clumsy girl amongst the crowd, an ordinary fan of his. With two separate and entirely different worlds, how did fate tie them together? Well, let's just say that it all started with a piece of paper. AU
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone!  
I'm finally back after a year and a half (I think?) I actually forgot about this story (I had already written and published 3 chapters but I've deleted it now!) as it was quite a while ago... so I've decided to rewrite it!  
I was actually surprised at my writing after I had re-read it..it was quite hmm, interesting! LOL but well, let's hope that I still have that humor in me :D It's not too edited and there may still be a lot of errors but it's still in par with the chapter it was before and the pace will stay the same :D

**Disclaimer:** you know the drill. xD

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

At first she didn't quite understand. She wasn't one of those girls who became crazy-obsessed with the latest and cutest teen idols. She had never understood those girls who everyday devoted their valuable time to a person they could only see on big, flashy screens. And, she was absolutely flabbergasted at the fact that they were even willing to pay a shocking amount of money to see their idol in a hot, crowded arena for a mere 3 or less hours? I mean…were they crazy or what? She really couldn't understand.

And yet, her she is, on a two and a half hour long train ride. It was hot, crammed and smelly. However she had not a tinge of regret for being there because in the end she knew it was worth it. It was worth spending almost half a year of her hard earned savings, just for the expensive bullet train ticket. It was worth her time, worth the wait. In the end it would all be worth it.

Just to be amongst the crowd, even a tiny glimpse would do.

To watch him perform talent with his guitar… it was all worth it.

"Hotaruuu! You won't believe it!" Mikan jumped as she excitedly wailed her hands in the air. She still couldn't get over her hype. "It was soooooo cool! I swear he glanced at me like, once!" She squealed as a deep shade of crimson rose onto her pale cheeks, her hands cupping them in astonishment.

Mikan's first concert belonged to her one and only idol, Natsume Hyuga. Her obsession with him wasn't stereotypically because of his looks or his popularity but rather because of his talent and passion for music. One summery day a year ago, she stumbled across his videos on Metube, and it was of him as a young child with a guitar. The amount of video views it had gained was quite the impressive number, all 7 digits of it. Interested, she decided to watch it to kill her boredom.

From that day on she never turned back.

A new breed of fan girl was officially born.

Hotaru, a vividly beautiful girl, whose hair was raven dark in contrast to her smooth porcelain skin, was Mikan's best friend and had been putting up with her excitement all morning.

"Did you take a picture of him?" Hotaru asked, her eyes glinting with money-making intentions.

"Yeeees! Of course I did," Mikan grinned as she rummaged through her bag for her camera. She pulled out a cute polka-dotted camera case and unzipped it. "I was actually about to show you." Mikan grinned and proudly showed Hotaru a slideshow of countless photos she had taken. Blurry or not, she wouldn't delete any for the world. "And look..." Mikan trailed off, flipping through the photos quickly, looking for a specific photo.

"Here it is," Mikan held up the camera, "he was looking straight at me when I took this photo! Look!" She yelped excitedly. The short but vivid seconds of his eyes capturing hers, had burned into her memory.

"Are there any photos of him smiling?" Hotaru asked, hoping but expecting there would not be such a photo. His smile was extremely rare, and it was hardly ever seen among the public. Hotaru knew that if she were able to capture at least one photo of him smiling, there would be no need for her to attend University. Or even finish school, for that matter. She could retire straight away! All that money...

Mikan shook her head. "I was hoping that maybe he would, even just a bit but..." She trailed off. "He never once smiled while he played his guitar." A disappointed expression was plastered onto her face. Maybe one day, Mikan thought, she could at least catch a glimpse of his rare smile.

"At least I got to watch him perform and sway with his guitar." Mikan giggled, remembering the way Natsume was what seemed like dancing awkwardly with his guitar. The memory of his music rushed through her head."It was amazing!"

* * *

Wednesday

"Oh my goodness. He looked so fine that day."

"I know right! He's so gorgeous!" Her friend whispered.

"And talented~" Another girl added. "I can't believe such a perfect person exists! And to think he's our age."

They shrieked quietly together.

Mikan glanced out the window, ears poking out, interested on hearing more about Natsume. The group of girls that sit behind her during English always talked about him. She most certainly couldn't help but listen more and more into their conversation. I mean, it was about Natsume Hyuuga after all.

"If only he attended our school!"

Her friend shrieked at the idea. "Oh my gosh, yes! But we're all the way here in countryside and..he goes to that famous school in Tokyo. So it's kinda impossible, I wish!"

"Hmm you're right, Sumire." Her friend agreed. "But out of all the boys here, he would rank the highest on any girl's list! I'd even say guys themselves would have him in their top five for that matter!"

The three girls giggled away.

Mikan sighed. She slowly glanced away from the window and turned to face the boring whiteboard. As she tapped he polka dotted pencil on her desk, she sighed away again. "If only..." Mikan muttered under her breath.

Lunchtime-

Mikan walked slowly walked towards the cafeteria, alongside her group of friends; Yuu, Nonoko, Anna and Kokoro.

"Yeah and then, and then, Yuu was like-" Nonoko giggled in between the spaces of her words. "Nonoko!" Yuu interrupted, blushing and slightly glancing at Mikan in the corner of his eye. "Don't say it..."

"He peed his pants didn't he?" Kokoro grinned. It was weird but Kokoro was always able to guess things correctly. His senses were so sharp that you could believe that he had the ability to read minds! Or does he?

Nonoko and Anna burst into laughter. "Yes! You are _so_ right!" They wiped their tears. "Not to be mean, Yuu, but it was just so incredibly funny..."

Yuu turned red and furrowed his brows as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hey, I was a little kid back then and... " He trailed off, noticing that Mikan was unusually quiet all this time. "Uh, Mikan?"

Mikan suddenly tore her eyes from the distance and shook her head. "Sorry! What was that?" Mikan smiled.

"You okay?" Anna questioned, worried, also noticing her unusual behavior.

"Yup!" Mikan answered, her lips popping at t he "p" sound. "Where's Hotaru? I'm going to look for her..." She stood up, waved her friends a cheery goodbye and walked off towards the exit door of the cafeteria.

Walking through the corridor of aligned classroom clubs, she always noticed one that stood out. It was The Music Club. Mikan had always wanted to join that club, but her confidence in talent brought her down. She loved music, the patterns, the melodies, the harmonies...it was pure bliss. Mikan however felt unable to join. Her self confidence bought her down. Every single person she knew that attended that club was incredibly talented in music. Be it singing, playing an instrument or even beat-boxing! From the piano to the glockenspiel, you name it! Talent was plastered everywhere in that room. Mikan always thought she had none of that. Her only musical experience was a three day free trial at the nearby community piano school. But still, she loved playing the piano. She wanted to learn and experience more about it, with everyone..

_I wanna join so bad but..but-_ Mikan thought, her mind wrestling her decision between half confident and half insecure. Her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice.

"Mikan?" She heard. Turning to the direction of the voice, Mikan saw that it was Hotaru, munching on a packet of cheesy chips.

"Hotaru!" Mikan smiled. "There you are!" The brunette excitedly ran to give her a big, squishy hug, but her intentions were cut short when she accidentally tripped on her own feet. "Oomph."

"Stupid. The floor is flat. How could you trip like that?" Hotaru commented, raising a brow at Mikan's clumsiness.

"Hehehe..." Mikan blushed, scratching her head.

"Anyways, can you give me your msn email address again?" Hotaru asked as she pulled Mikan up from her messy fall. "I forgot to make one yesterday and," she continued, "and I lost the piece of paper you gave me on my way to school." Hotaru confessed.

"Sure." Mikan laughed and rummaged through her bag for a pen and a piece of paper. "i...love...bunnies...at..mailtime dot com" Mikan muttered out loud as she scribbled onto the paper. She handed it over. "Here you go." Mikan grinned.

"Thanks."

* * *

"Natsume... Do you really think you'll be okay at this school?" Ruka Nogi, Natsume's childhood friend and long-time supporter, questioned Natsume's father's decision to send his only son to a semi-private school in the countryside.

"I might as well go." Natsume said in a bland tone, with a hint of irritation building up in his throat. "Just to satisfy that old man's ass." He hissed icily.

Ruka started getting nervous. Here he goes again.. "Uhh, maybe it's a good thing?" Ruka comforted, sharing his optimism. "I mean, for one, you'll be away from the crazy paparazzi and all.."

"Hn. True." Natsume agreed as he stepped out of the car. His driver opened the car's back hood and carried out Natsume's and Ruka's luggage.

"Here you are, sir. Please take care of yourself from now on, and please see to it that you at least call your father once a month. Then, I will see you in a few months time." The wrinkly man bowed and hopped into his car.

"Goodbye Mister. Thank you very much for your kindness." Ruka politely bowed in return.

"Hn. Bye." Natsume insipidly mouthed as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

The two friends watched the car as it drove away into the distance.

Natsume's father had arranged for him to enroll at a new school, away from the media. His father had seen it as a beneficiary decision, as Natsume was much too young to handle all the unwanted fame he was receiving. It was only right, his father had decided, to send him away from all the madness and take a break until all the craze had died down. Hyuuga papa, being the thoughtful father he was, had bought an apartment flat in the suburb-rural area which was only 30 minutes away from the new school his son had enrolled to. Also being the powerful man he was as a large industrial CEO, Hyuuga papa was able to plan this without a word spilling onto the media. And Ruka, being the amazing friend that he was, decided to stay with him and attend the school with him.

"C'mon, let's get inside. It's freezing." Ruka said as he carried his luggage into the flat.

"Yeah. I'm coming." Natsume took his luggage and guitar case in his two hands and turned around one last time, staring onto the distance.

From now on, this will be his new life.

* * *

"Grandpa, I'm home!" Mikan breathed as she opened the door, feeling a rush of warm and cinnamon-scented air.

"Welcome home Mikan." Her grandpa smiled warmly.

After eating a hearty sandwich filled with ham, cheese, olives and other tasteful veges, she headed to her bedroom and turned her laptop on.

She impatiently clicked on her MSN, hoping that Hotaru was online. She was excited to talk on Hotaru's very first MSN account. Best friend talk, finally!

Mikan's messenger appeared and suddenly a window popped up.

summerhero** has added you.**

**accept** [** x** ] **decline** [ ]

_Must be Hotaru, yay!_ She thought.

summerhero is now online.

Mikan was startled for a moment there. "That was fast! I thought she would be studying today.." She wondered. Wasn't Hotaru busy with studying or club today? Weird. But Oh well! Might as well, right?

ilovebunnies: Hey! :D

summerhero: Lol. Hello.

ilovebunnies: i thought you had club today, Hotaru~ :O

summerhero: wth. hu's hotaru. i moved school, ruka, did your memory get erased? =.=

ilovebunnies: O_O

summerhero: wat?

ilovebunnies: who's 'ruka'.. ? O.O OMG YOUR BOYFRIEND? WHO?

summerhero: ..uh you? you gave me ur msn right?

ilovebunnies: isnt this hotaru? O_O OMG YOU'RE A STALKER :OO HI! ^_^

summerhero: ...what.

* * *

He typed the last four letters impatiently._ That's it. _

Natsume burst furiously into Ruka's bedroom. "Hey Ruka! What the hell man? You gave me your MSN and now you're pretending you're not even-" He stopped at his quick explosion and realized that Ruka was sleeping contently with his pet rabbit.

Glancing at Ruka's unused and closed laptop, Natsume quickly realized that it wasn't Ruka he had added.

Leaving the bedroom and quietly closing Ruka's door, Natsume took a piece of paper out of his pocket.

_ilovebunnies_  
_Go online soon okay! ^^ ~_

It was a piece of paper that was stuck to his shoe and he had noticed it there as he was unpacking his things. Natsume thought it had been Ruka's because of the obvious email address. Guess he was wrong. Well that's weird. Whatever. He shrugged it off

Sitting back onto his comfortable computer chair, he continued his conversation.

He might as well pass the time.

ilovebunnies: isnt this hotaru? O_O OMG YOU'RE A STALKER :OOO H! ^_^

summerhero: ...what.

ilovebunnies: ^^" sorry, im bad at first impressions...

summerhero: Lol. I can see that.

ilovebunnies: how did u get my email o.o

summerhero: haha. who knows.

ilovebunnies: XD so where are you from?

summerhero: earth.

ilovebunnies: so am I! :DD where in earth?

summerhero: not in the sea, obviously.

* * *

Mikan fidgeted with her fingers as she waited for her newly added 'friend' to reply. This person seemed nice, even though he or she wasn't Hotaru. I mean, she might as well make a new friend while she's at it, right?

summerhero: my name aint anything special.

ilovebunnies: ohh..:O every name is special tho! so it probably is! mine means orange/mandarin ^_^ cool right?

summerhero: pfft.

ilovebunnies: Hey it's rarely used! really unique! :b

summerhero: ohwoaw.

ilovebunnies: ^_^ and its sentimental..my parents gave me that name!

summerhero: your parent's huh... nice.

ilovebunnies: Yup ^^

summerhero is typing a message

Distracted, Mikan took a glance at the corner of her screen. Her eyes widened and she gasped. "seven twenty-two already!?" Mikan was amazed. "I didn't realize that we were talking for such a long time.." She quickly typed something and rushed off. "I gotta make dinner!"

* * *

ilovebunnies: i gtg but i hope to speak to you soon! (:

_ilovebunnies is offline._

Save to friends list?  
ilovebunnies  
**Okay** [ ] **Cancel** [ ]

"Who are you talking to? In uh..chat?" Ruka asked as curiously as his eyes scanned the opened msn on his computer screen. Natsume barely used msn. The blonde rubbed his sleepy eyes and ruffled his fresh bed hair.

"..No one in particular. Just a mandarin girl." Natsume had a slightly amused look onto his face.

Ruka was surprised. _I wonder what's so funny..._ He thought, but then shrugged it off. "So is pizza okay for tonight?" He said as he took out his mobile phone.

"Hm."

Save to friends list?  
ilovebunnies  
**Okay** [ **X **] **Cancel** [ ]

* * *

Thursday

"Oh my goodness, Mikan! Guess what!" Nonoko yelped in excitement. Mikan jumped with her and joined in. "What what what?"

Her friends were all strangely huddled up and all eyes were directed at her as if they were waiting for something from her.

"Have you heard?" Kokoro asked.

"Heard what?" Mikan asked as she quirked her brow in confusion. _Just what… _

"Natsume. Hyuuga. is. going. to..." Anna trailed off teasingly and grinned as she noticed Mikan's pupils grow sparkly wide with curiosity.

"What! What!" She couldn't hide her excitement. _What could it be? Oh my gosh!_

"Drum roll please," Yuu started, and glanced at Kokoro, who had two pencils and a ring binder ready to go.

Kokoro grinned. Da-dum-duuuuuuuuu-

"He's going to attend our school, Mikan." Hotaru interrupted impassively. "I don't see why we have to make a big fuss, even though Mikan has dangerously the largest crush on him in the world. I feel sorry for him."

"Aw you ruined it, Hotaru!" Nonoko whined.

Hotaru shrugged.

The group of amused friends just grinned and patiently waited for Mikan's reaction. They all had their cameras and phones ready and rolling. Meanwhile Hotaru just chewed on her beef jerky.

Mikan just stared.

"Well…? How do you feel?" Nonoko teased.

And stared.

"Uhh, Mikan?"

Then she fainted.

* * *

During early class time, Natsume and Ruka were shown around the school, a special treat by the principal. The school was big, which was unusual for the almost rural located school. It was quite a historical and antique school, with white alabaster walls and white high ceilings. The huge intricately framed windows stared right down at them, aligned one by one. There were corridors, one after the other and it smelled light and peaceful. It was full of air, unlike his other school back in the city. It was too stuffy back there.

"Ah, and this here is the club's corridor." The principal pointed proudly. It was recently under construction till early last year, and the amount of clubs they had managed to reel in was fabulous. As a principal, he was proud. It was after all, quite a low budget school.

"Oh wow," Ruka was dazzled. "so many clubs to pick from!"

"Hn."

Suddenly, they heard squeaky footsteps tapping in the distance. They had all turned their direction towards it and out of the blue was this girl running from the end of the corridor, towards them. "I'm gonna be late, I'm gonna be late!" She panicked, with her long and wavy brunette hair swaying swiftly behind her. In her struggling hands was a large stack of heavy-looking paper.

The brunette accidentally bumped her left shoulder onto the principal's right, slightly moving him. "Hoho, Miss. Sakura, be sure to watch your step!" The man chuckled as his eyes wrinkled under his furry eyebrows.

With a short glance, the girl cheerfully smiled back. "Good Morning Mr. Howic!" And then without hesitation, she quickly sped off down the corridor, with the handful stack of paper carefully tucked between her hands and chin.

Ruka watched as she ran off in a fast struggle. "That looked heavy...we should have helped her." He said in a caring tone, slightly regretful.

"Ah, yes. Mikan Sakura, she's a lovely, high-spirited girl. She does this every morning, and always insists that she needs no help." The principal smiled under his aging wrinkles. "Bright girl she is." He laughed.

"Mikan Sakura? Mikan as in mandarins and oranges?" The blonde asked, surprised at such a unique name for a girl. "I guess we really aren't in the city any more.."

As they walked away, continuing the never-ending tour, Natsume looked back at the corridor she had passed. _Mikan Sakura..._

_Mandarin, huh?_

Natsume reverted his eyes away and glanced forward. He continued walking as Mr. Howic began blabbing on again.

_Sounds familiar. _

* * *

Finished! I changed a few things but..oh well! What do you guys think? :D

painstains


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you all a bunch for your lovely reviews :D  
Disclaimer: I do not own G.A or any of it's characters

Here's chapter 2 of Spirit. Enjoy!

* * *

Slowly, Mikan's eyes fluttered open. Rubbing her eyes, she winced slightly at the burst of sun flare that attacked her. The air was misty, damp-smelling and cold_. I guess there was quite some rain last night _she thought, as her eyes trailed away towards her foggy window.  
The polka-dot clock that hung above it caught her attention.

Seven fifty-five it ticked.

She gasped. Mikan furiously threw her blanket off of herself and ran frantically to her bathroom."I overslept!"

**-:x:-**

Loud conversational murmurs echoed throughout the whole assembly gym.

"Ahem ahem." The principal cleared his throat loudly towards the mic, indicating his students' silence and attention. Distinct conversations faded into whispers and soon enough silence stretched throughout the whole auditorium. "Students, staff," He started, "as you may know or may have heard.. We have two new students." He cleared his throat again. "Er, quite the talented students they are."

The whole student body jumped and down their seats and cheered wildly.

"Now then, let's continue." The principal began again, straightening his suit and stance in the process. He seemed nervous and such. "Please welcome Natsume Hyuuga..." but he soon trailed off as he noticed the empty seat before him.

"Ah?" Mr. Howic's eyebrows raised in outmost confusion. "Where.." He spun around completely, towards the empty chair. _He was there just a moment ago..  
_"Where is mister Hyuuga?" His wrinkly eyes captured the now two empty seats beneath him. "Er..Mister Nogi?"

The students silenced. Whispers were erupting.

Nonoko and Hotaru had also taken notice of the unusually empty seat between them.

"..Where's Mikan?"

**-:x:-**

Mikan walked frantically and quickly on the damp footpath towards school, with the cold air breezing through her chilled body and the sun flaring furiously at her eyes.

"Wah...today's weather isn't so bad." She huffed while cold, white air escaped her mouth. "It's still a bit cold though.." She muttered on as she rubbed her palms together for warmth.

Mikan was walking moderately when suddenly she stopped at her tracks. Her eyes caught the sight of an unfamiliarly extravagant and grand car. It was dipped in a shade of grey that had glints of sunshine reflecting from it. It was so shiny and modern, and Mikan was quite mesmerized.

She stared. "I've never seen that car around before." It was rare to see such a flaunting car in her town, let alone parked at her school lot. The brunette wondered what purpose it had parked there. Could there be an event? Maybe someone bought a new car…or maybe someone from the city came to visit?

From the city…

_The city._

"Well, it _is_ really flashy..." She bit her lip as she realized just who it could be. _'He's going to our school, Mikan' _Hotaru's words replayed in her head. No, she thought. There wasn't a matter of who "it could" be…because _it is_ him. No doubt about it.

_Natsume Hyuuga.. _

She gasped out loud, as her heart began thundering like a never ending storm against her ribcage. Her pupils widened immensely, and she swallowed what felt like a fist full of air. The butterflies in her stomach started to emerge then, flying like crazy. Mikan clutched her stomach as the nervousness started to surge through her, overpowering all senses.

"I can't believe it…" Mikan muttered as she tried to decline her rapidly increasing breaths. Suddenly off she went, as if her legs had a life of its own. Her body felt like jelly –especially her legs and she was sure her they would start shaking soon. But she couldn't help it, no matter how nervous, butterfly filled and heart thundered she felt, she was too excited to not run and see him.

Ignoring the storm raging in her chest, she paced her legs and hastened with adrenaline and excitement pulsing through her.

As she entered the alabaster covered walls of the school's main corridor, she stopped on her tracks. The sudden stop managed a loud squeak from her shoes, and it echoed down the empty corridor.

_Wait. _She hesitated. _What class would be in? Where would he be? _Her shoulders dropped. _How am I supposed to know where he is in such a big place? ...Probably in assembly! Gah, if only I woke up earlier and didn't oversleep I would have been able to- _

Her rush of thoughts was interrupted as she stubbed her foot on what felt like hard rock and she soon felt herself stumbling over a stack of cardboard boxes. "Ouch..." Mikan winced said as she rubbed her calf to ease the sharp pain emitting from it. "That hurt!" She pouted. Why was she so clumsy?

As soon as she was about to get up, the shadow of two figures appeared beneath her sight.

"Are you alright?" Mikan heard an unfamiliar voice. It was soothingly slow and solemn. She felt a tiny rush of wind blow through her as a hand stretched out to greet her.

The brunette nodded and raised her head slowly. "Oh, I'm fine thank-"

She stopped when her eyes captured the two standing before her. Ah, there it went again. The thunderstorms began crackling madly in her chest, followed by an uncomfortable rush of swarming butterflies that began to invade her stomach.

"..you.." Her mouth stopped at its tracks, and she couldn't speak, even though her insides were screaming like mad. She couldn't believe her eyes and she dared not to blink. Her breath stopped all together and the only sound she could distinguish in their awkward share of silence was the thudding of her strident heart.

Right there.

Her eyes slowly began to trail upwards.

Tall lean legs fitted with the dashing grey of the school's uniform.

A strongly shaped upper build plastered in fresh white buttoned uniform.

Her eyes trailed along the beautiful long fingers and muscular, solid arms shown through sloppily rolled up sleeves.

Then the slender and broad shoulders came to picture perfect view. His manliness was blinding.

Chocolate eyes stopped abruptly at the flawless facial features. _Gorgeous_…No. Words wouldn't be able to justify such beauty.

Oh, intensely mysterious crimson eyes. _Oh.  
_  
Stunning jet black raven hair.

Mikan let out a tiny gasp.

**-:x:-**

"Natsume, are you sure it's okay to skip the morning assembly like this?" Ruka asked worriedly. "I mean, the principal was going through all the trouble of introducing you..." He trailed off, a large bubble of thought building up in his mind. The thought of consequences worried him.

"Nah, I don't really care." Natsume shrugged. "Besides, I never even asked for such a thing. I don't want to get introduced." He affirmed blandly and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Hmm," Ruka began "it's up to you really, but I think we should at least go there and apologi-" He was suddenly cut off by the distracting boom of clattering and crashing objects.

The two boys turned towards the direction of the noise.

"Ouch..." The girl muttered, rubbing her leg for comfort. "That hurt!" She cried. Large paper-filled cardboard boxes were scattered all around her, and some of its paper content had already flown out.

Ruka, concerned, walked up to her. He held out his hand for support "Are you alright?" The brunette looked embarrassed. She nodded. "I'm fine thank…" but the clumsy girl trailed off quietly when she finally faced them.

Her deep hazel eyes caught their two pairs of crimson and blue. "..you.."

Suddenly there was a long, awkward silence, and the girl was eyeing Natsume intently.

Natsume immediately recognized her silky brunette hair and small build. No way. _Mandarin girl? _He almost couldn't hide the amusement emerging from his face.

"I…I..." she began, breaking the silence and away from Natsume, but stuttered uncontrollably. "U-u-um, thank you!" Mikan took Ruka's hand and she stood on her two shaky legs. The girl smiled at Ruka. "You are very kind."

Ruka let out a shy chuckle. "Um, it was nothing really…" He insisted, scratching his nose in embarrassment.

Awkward pause.

"Er…" Mikan's eyes again found her way towards the boy behind the blond. Flawless Natsume Hyuuga. He was taller than she had imagined. And he had a rather still and straight stance, compared to the type of way he sits on a chair with his guitar. Oh god, he was less than two meters from her. Is this a dream? She can't believe it, he was right there, in the flesh, and she can actually touc-

Ah.

What if her gawky and ungraceful trip with the cardboard boxes may have been witnessed by him and his blond friend? Mikan dropped her jaw in realization. There and then, she really felt like dying out of embarrassment!

Mikan took Ruka's hand between hers and shook it quickly. He was taken by surprise. "Thank you again! I hope we can be friends." Mikan eyed Natsume as if she was about to say something to him, but quickly pulled away, in a shade of red. Her thundering heart and butterfly-filled stomach weren't exactly helping her either.

Mikan turned at her tracks, towards the opposite direction of the corridor, ready to walk away.

One last moment she turned back towards the two boys and smiled. "Welcome to our school."

Quickly she ran, further and further away from her embarrassment. As soon as she reached her form room at the far end of the school building, the nervousness in her heart soon died away.

However the lingering thoughts in her mind did not.

**-:x:-**

ilovebunnies: and then I totally tripped up in front of him! gah! D: what should i do..he probably thinks Im weird. :'x

summerhero: nahh, not weird. just clumsy.

ilovebunnies: i hope so.. D: thanks :D

summerhero: lol np.

ilovebunnies: i wonder what he'll think when we start becoming friends? (if we do though ;-;)

ilovebunnies: do u think he'd see me as an oddball? D:

summerhero: no not an oddball..

_summerhero is typing a message... _

summerhero: he'd think you're interesting.

**-:x:-**

Tuesday

"Yeah…so, have you guys seen him up close yet?" Yuu asked as Mikan and the gang huddled up on their seats around the table.

Anna and Nonoko grinned sheepishly at Mikan. "Yeah well we couldn't really come close," Anna started. "Cause we want someone to go close to him first." Nonoko finished. They winked playfully in sync at the now tomato-red brunette.

Mikan could feel the blood rushing furiously from her ears and cheeks. "H-hey who are you talking about! I have no idea who..." She mumbled and trailed off into a silent whisper. "..you're talking about."

"Actually his blond friend Ruka is pretty cute!" Anna laughed.

"Oh isn't that him right there? Look Mikan!" Kokoro pointed somewhere at the distance. Mikan immediately turned her head towards the direction. There was no sign of Natsume. She pouted at his tease. "Hey…"

"It's so obvious you know that we're talking about Natsume." Kokoro teased.

Mikan took a fierce bite into her sandwich. "Hmph."

"Oh hi, Hotaru!" Yuu waved happily. Hotaru walked towards the lively group with her newly bought afternoon tea food. High class sushi.

"Mikan's pretending that she doesn't know we were talking about Natsume." Nonoko giggled and scooted over for Hotaru.

Hotaru began eating. "Why am I not surprised." She chewed, eyeing Mikan, and then swallowed slowly. "Speaking of Natsume, he has P.E class with us." She said as she whipped out an impressive photocopy of his timetable.

Mikan choked on her food. "W-what!" Her cheese and baloney sandwich slipped from her hands.

"Aw, Mikan! You're so lucky! He's in your Physical Ed class." Anna cheered.

Nonoko giggled. "You may be able to see his muscles in action!" Anna then shrieked with her.

Mikan laughed nervously. _Out of all the classes…seriously?! I mean it's not like I mind or anything but… seriously?!_ Mikan began to tidy her baloney mess."Um, Hotaru when do we have-" _  
_  
"It's next period."

And then the bell rang.

**-:x:-**

"Geez." Natsume groaned in annoyance as more piles of love-notes and gifts continued to tumble down his locker. He raked his fingers into his hair as his two black brows creased, frustrated.  
"I can't even get my damn sports gear." Natsume complained.

Ruka patted his slumping shoulders in comfort. "At least it's a bit less than the last school we went to." He laughed.

"I can't even tell." Natsume shrugged as he vigorously stuffed fistfuls of paper and wrapped boxes into a large rubbish bag.

The bell then rang.

"Ah." Ruka took Natsume's nap sack out of his locker and tightly twisted its ropes around his palm. "We should go, Natsume. We'll be late for class."

"Yeah. Let's go. It's P.E, right?"

**-:x:-**

Mikan walked quickly towards the girl's changing rooms. "I should go quickly before there's a line for a changing roo-ah!" Suddenly her left foot caught the untied shoelace on her right and she tripped awkwardly, face flat.

Her body shot straight up again and she kneeled there, on the gym floor. "Hotaruu...Why didn't you tell me my shoelace was untied…," Mikan cried as she twisted her body to face Hotaru. "Why did you betray me!?" She cried again.

Hotaru, who was walking behind her, insipidly said "I was about mention it but you suddenly tripped." Suddenly her lavender eyes caught blue ones. "Ah. Ruki Nogi." She said, still continuing facing forward.

The brunette on the floor began sweating bullets. _That name is really familiar. _

_"Actually __**his**__ blond friend, __**Ruka**__ is pretty cute!" _Her eyes widened as the flashback shot through her head.

A familiarly solemn voice spoke to her. "Umm…are you okay? Sakura-san."

The brunette hesitantly turned her head so that she could face the boy that was speaking to her. If her indications were right then there was also another boy with him. There would be that other boy she thought. Definitely.

When she finally turned for full view, her questions were answered._Oh my God. _She thought. Oh yes. She was right.

There stood Ruka Nogi and Natsume Hyuuga, both with sports bags carried on their shoulders and hips. Her mouth hung open and she was unable to move. She was suddenly stuck in this position again…On the floor, nervous and unable to process anything, while looking up at two incredibly attractive boys.

Natsume did the first move to break the silent moment, and it looked as if he was actually about to offer his hand to Mikan, as it was outstretched and ready.

Hotaru and Ruka both became wide eyed and taken aback, stunned at the sudden action of Natsume. But really, their expressions weren't at par with Mikan's shock at this point.

Mikan solely knew what type of person he was, being the fan she is and all. And so far in her 16 years of life she had never imagined such a considerate thing would happen from Natsume Hyuuga of all people. Could she be the first one? The very first person to receive such a thing from the one and only Natsume Hyuuga? Her insides turned into mush. "T-thank you Natsu-"

Natsume withdrew his hand back suddenly."What? No. Your bra." He interrupted.

She froze. "Huh?" _M-my what?_

Natsume bent down in front of her, centimeters from her heat-rising body and almost tomato-red face. He extended his hand out again, this time with four of his fingers curling inwards so that one index finger is left pointing towards her chest. "Your bra. I can see it."

Mikan felt all heat radiate onto her cheeks as she jerked her hands around her chest protectively. She realized that one or two buttons were unbuttoned and they may have popped out due to her fall. It wasn't the first time it's happened, after all. She clutched at her blouse even tighter.

"P-pervert!" Her heart thundered loudly and she could feel the intense heat burning in her ears.

Natsume stood back up on his two legs and looked down, with a tiny trace of a smirk plastered onto his straight face. "Keep them hidden next time, polka dots." He walked away, with a blushing Ruka by his side. _  
_  
"Natsume…" Mikan fumed in embarrassment.

"You pervert!"

**-:x:-**

ilovebunnies: And then he said "keep them hidden next time, polka dots" ! AGH :I

summerhero: lol. he seems pretty funny.

ilovebunnies: funnyy? D: more like perv...ah that was so embarrassing! D: adklhaahjal;k

summerhero: maybe he just wanted to tease you a bit.

summerhero: 'cause yanno...polka dot bras are... lol.

ilovebunnies: hmph :x but up close he was kinda...

summerhero: kinda? kinda what?

ilovebunnies: quite...

summerhero: quite?

ilovebunnies: alright fine! he was quite handsome i admit!

summerhero: o lol.

summerhero: are you sure it's just 'quite'? dont you mean 'really' (x10) handsome? haha

ilovebunnies well yeah...but he's still a pervert :P

**-:x:-**

Thursday

Mikan walked down the main corridor with Anna next to her. The Brunette was unusually quiet, as if her mind was elsewhere. Every now and then, Mikan would always twirl her head to every direction possible, snapping her brunette ponytail along, as if she was frantically looking for someone.

Anna grinned mischievously at her friend. "What? Are you trying to look for your beloved?" She teased, poking her sides playfully.

Mikan blushed and brushed Anna's hand away. "He's not my beloved!"

"Oh so you _are _looking for him!" Anna's grin widened and her cheekbones rose mischievously.

"No way, why would I look for a pervert like him and-"

"Who's the pervert polka dots?"

She was suddenly cut off by a familiar voice. It was the deep, distinct and highly contagious voice of Natsume Hyuuga, who again was calling her _that_ name.

Natsume smirked as he noticed her orange folder. "Aren't you a pervert too, Mikan?"

"What!? No!"

The smirking boy accusingly pointed at her exposed orange folder. "Those are pictures of me, right?"

He was right. There were at least a dozen or so solo photos of Natsume plastered there. Be it with his guitar or casual, they were all of him. The photos were quite the precious significance to her and they were all glued perfectly on her folder, one by one.

The brunette blushed madly at what Natsume had just pointed out. "These pictures were here before I found out you were a perve-"

"Say no more. I get it." He held up his hand, halting her. "I'll show you my photo albums tomorrow and I'll photocopy the pictures you want, polka." He smirked once more as he teased her. He spun swiftly around; hands cozy in his pockets, indicating the goodbye of their conversation. Ruka gave an apologetic look as he walked off with Natsume.

By now, Mikan's real skin color could not be identified, if not for the dangerously obvious crimson shade on her face. "Don't call me polka, pervert!"

Anna just laughed out loud. _Oh, these two cuties..._

**-:x:-**_  
_

Saturday

summerhero: oh, so he saw your pictures?

ilovebunnies: YEAH! :X

summerhero: lol he must've been flattered.

ilovebunnies: no way! he was all teasing me about it :/

summerhero: i dunno, maybe he meant it haha

ilovebunnies: :/

summerhero: hey,at least you didnt show your polka dot panties again.

ilovebunnies: -_-

summerhero: Lol.

ilovebunnies: It's just that he's been teasing me about it ever since then! what does he want from me D:..

summerhero: i dunno but..

ilovebunnies: but?

summerhero: maybe he wants your attention.

**-:x:-**

Monday

"Did you forget your running shoes? We're running a eight kilometer run today..." Hotaru asked suspiciously. She knew Mikan would never forget her shoes. Ever. Mikan had a passion for running, and though she is clumsy, she still happily comes to school with prepared sports gear all the time. So how could it be that this has happened? It was just too unlikely.

"Ah. Y-yeah." Mikan scratched her nose as she looked down at her bare feet, twinkling her painted toes.

Hotaru was doubtful. "Hmm…" But she let it go. "Alright then." Maybe she really did forget but...really? at their once a month eight kilometer run? That wasn't the Mikan she knew. It was too unusual.

Mikan smiled and tackle hugged her best friend. "Good luck Hotaru!" She squeezed even tighter.

Hotaru smiled. "You too, Mikan."

All 31 students of class B were aligned in rows at the starting point. Hotaru suddenly felt herself becoming nervous for Mikan. The route this time for the eight kilometer run was certainly a rocky one. The path was created through the track field and outside the perimeter of the school, past the rock cemented paths and twig covered land. Hotaru regretted that she didn't convince Mikan to go pretend sick and skip the run. But she definitely knew that no matter what, Mikan would still go through with this run and finish it. She wouldn't miss it for the world.

Hotaru caught eyes with Mikan across the lot. They were separated of course, as the students were organized by alphabetical order. Imai was far before Sakura. Mikan gave Hotaru a huge grin and two thumbs up indicating "good luck"

_You need that more than I do, baka._

"On your marks." The students stopped stretching.

"Get set. " They began to brace themselves.

"Go!"

**-:x:-**

Ruka was on his final lap, determined to at least place 4th. _Boy, I've become unfit.. _He thought as he gripped the burn originating from the side of his belly. _I really need to start exercising again._

Ahead of him he could see a girl with strangely green permed hair. She had a cat like running stance and seemed just as tired as he was.

The blond abruptly heard the sound of tired huffing behind him, gradually getting louder and louder. "Sorry! Comin' through!" It was a high-pitched, breathy voice and it belonged to no one other than Mikan, who was beginning to over take him

Ruka was surprised at her perseverance, especially when his eyes caught the painfully blistered pair of feet she was running on. _She's trying really hard… _He thought. Ruka smiled and slowed his pace down so she could overtake him quicker.

Mikan huffed, puffed, wheezed –you name it. Even though she was exhausted, and even though the severe pain emitting from her feet continued to affect her, she still kept going. She kept pacing herself. Mikan was determined to place at least second at this point.

She ran even faster, and whooshed right past permed Sumire, who was clearly struggling to keep up.

Sumire gritted her teeth hatefully as Mikan overtook her. _Damn it! _She narrowed her eyes maliciously. _Not this time, Sakura! _

The vigorous girl braced herself as she sprinted like a mad feline ahead. As soon as she provided much distance between herself and the brunette, her stealthy hand dived into her pocket. Sumire took out a dangerous handful of what looked like shiny shards from the pockets of her track pants. She loosened her scrawny little fingers and the differently shaped objects that lay on her two palms reflected her snickering smile.

Glass.

**-:x:-**

The brunette was surprised to see Permy's sudden slow down and abrupt pause ahead of her. _Was she giving up already?_

It looked as if Permy began pacing herself again, but was running at the same spot. She rubbed her eyes. Maybe she was just hallucinating things…Mikan was too tired and dizzy to think properly, anyway.

She passed Sumire. _Yes, third! _

"Almost there!" Mikan wheezed. The brunette started to sprint and her legs were beginning to move rapidly. "C'mon Mikan you can-"

Then Mikan felt it, an intense pain cutting its way onto her left foot.

She screamed.

The impact of pain had Mikan stumbling onto her knees and eventually her body fell all together, diving and rolling itself onto the trap of glass shards laid out for her. Glass was entering what felt like a million joints into her body, as the immense pain surfaced. They penetrated into her skin, with each shard a home to pierce through.

Then came the blood.

**-:x:-**

Natsume was barely tired but he knew Hotaru was already at the end. He was keeping a moderate pace. Thoughts ran through him at this point, mostly of his family. How was his sister going back there at school or his dad…was he having a hard, stressful time at work? He wondered continuously in this spare moment he had with himself. His thoughts were shattered when he heard it.

There was a scream behind him.

And it was terrifyingly familiar.

Natsume turned around, only to find a shaking Mikan in the distance, withering in pain on the twig-filled path. She was kneeling, and was gripping her hands securely around her left foot. He could see that even her hands were shaking.

His instincts had his legs sprinting towards her instantaneously.

When he finally got there, he was absolutely horrified. What took his sight first was the blood. It was everywhere on her leg and splints of red where splattered up across a trail on her arms and neck. She was in obvious pain. Natsume started to panic. Oh god, he hadn't seen this much blood since… since…damn, he couldn't even think properly because all the blood was making him feel woozy and nauseous. Oh god, it had been such a long time and the memories just kept coming to him; the screaming, the pain, the blood, his sister-

He lost track of his thought when a pair of brown eyes captured his.  
She looked up at him, teary-eyed. The anger welled inside of him. Anger mixed with pain was it? He couldn't quite distinguish the pang in his chest.

"Stupid! Why the hell would you run in bare feet! Look how rocky the pavement is and-" Natsume's eyes widened and his fingertips lightly touched her punctured skin.

"You...is that glass?"

Mikan nodded shakily as she tried to hide the pain. Natsume's furrowed eyes fixed itself on the shard graved into her arm and reached out to-

"Don't touch it!" Mikan jerked his hand away hastily. He stared at her. "You might hurt your fingers…" She trailed off, as she propped his hand gently down to his side.

"You…You shouldn't be worrying about that right now!" He exploded. I mean, look at her, she was bloodied and the pain on her face looked as if she was beaten up, deep fried and baked…on the sun. Damn, what the hell? She was too considerate for her own good. Too nice. Too everything. But it would be a lie to say that he wasn't even a bit touched by her remark back there. Because he actually was. A bit. Or maybe even more than a bit.

Natsume gently traced her leg for any misplaced bones. She began to protest but he shushed her with a narrowing "Don't argue with me." No broken bones so far, but once he reached her foot he could feel a large lump at the top. He realized that the glass shard had almost gone through her entire foot. He winced.

Not sparing any second whatsoever, he gently wrapped Mikan's arm around his shoulder.

"C'mon. Let's finish this."

"Wait what! I can't! It hurts!" She protested desperately, the pain was too much to bear.

"C'mon you've come this far, polka."

"Don't call me polka..." Mikan mumbled under her breath but trailed off as the sharp pain in her body distracted her.

Natsume sighed at her stubbornness. "Hoi. If we- I mean you, finish this I'll stop calling you polka."

She glanced up, meeting Natsume's eyes.

Mikan smiled and tightened her grip on Natsume's shoulder. "Thank you…"

"Can you hurry up? You're heavy. You should lose some pounds."

The brunette laughed faintly and pinched his shoulder. "Let's just go."

As they fast walked in sync, like a three legged race, Mikan said something. "Hey, Natsume?"

"Hn."

"Make sure you don't injure your fingers, okay?"

Natsume looked away, ignoring her as if he hadn't heard that. He goddamn hated her kindness and selflessness at this point. Won't she stop it already? It was the first time he had met such a person and…well damn, he had no idea how to react to it or handle it. And it outshone pretty much all the thoughts and feelings he was having at that moment. Oh boy, it was really new to him. Too new.

"God, I don't even know why I'm helping you." Natsume groaned. "My shoulder friggin' hurts."

Mikan giggled. "C'mon, you've come this far." She rephrased, grinning.

* * *

AAAANNNDD I am finished! :D phew! I've made quite a few changes compared to my original fic. I wonder if eight km was too short? or too extreme? o.o anywho, how was it? Please tell me your thoughts!

paintstains


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone!  
So from now on Mikan's probably going to wear a cast, right? But the problem is I don't really know how long she'll need it for..but for now I'm going to guess about 3 and a half weeks or so..  
(so it will fit into the story too) I'm not sure if it's unrealistically short, but if it is I apologize! D: oh, and thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! My replies to them are at the end of this chapter ^^

**Disclaimer:**…really?

Here's chapter 3 of Spirit. Enjoy!

* * *

"So...Can I sign it now?" Kokoro impatiently asked as he poked his vivid marker annoyingly on the Brunette's newly assembled white cast. Nonoko hitched the marker off him and hissed. "No you dummy! Wait till she wakes up..."

"I don't really think she'll mind." Yuu shrugged, encouraging Kokoro.

Anna stepped in. "Yeah, Yuu's right and she would actually lik-" Anna was suddenly interrupted by the sound of rustling bed sheets against Mikan's now moving body. She began mumbling and groaning, indicating that she was about to awake from her slumber.

"She's aliiiiiveee!" Kokoro mockingly exclaimed as if she was Frankenstein or rather, Mikanstein rising.

Mikan rubbed her eyes tiredly. "How long have I been asleep guys?" She sat up and noticed the plain and un-coloured cast plastered around her foot and leg. Her shoulders dropped and she pouted. "No one has written on my cast yet?"

"Kokoro go ahead and doodle." Anna puckered an I-told-you-so tone, as she eyed Nonoko.

The brunette whipped her head around, scanning the room in concentration. "Huh? Where's Hotaru?" She asked, noticing that her best friend was not present among her four visitors.

Nonoko furrowed her brows and tapped her index finger on her chin, thinking. Suddenly, it came to her."Oh right!" Her finger popped up. "I think Hotaru went to buy you some Howalons or something..."

**-:x:-**

"Ruka, you were near the scene weren't you? Did you see anything?" Hotaru asked casually, with a self made recorder ready in hand.

The blond pursed his lips in concentration, trying to remember. "I was about three people behind so I didn't see much..." Ruka scratched the back of his head and turned away from Hotaru's intense yet beautiful eyes. The memory shot through him. "Oh! That's right." 'Ruka's head popped up as if he discovered something significant.

"What is it?"

Ruka furrowed his brows. "That girl…Sumire, was it? -The one with the weird green hair. She sped past Mikan and suddenly stopped when she put her hands in her pockets and-"

"I got it." Hotaru threw a Howalon at Ruka. He was startled a bit but caught it clumsily in his two palms. "Thanks. Payment."

Hotaru exited towards the door but then suddenly halted her feet. She looked back at him one last time. "I'll be coming here again." And at that she left and gracefully shut the door behind her.

Ruka just sat there, hints of red spread across his two cheeks.

"Was that Imai just now?" Natsume asked as he stepped out of his room. He just saw her backside leave through the Kitchen door. Natsume's brow rose in suspicion. "What? Are you dating my cousin now?"

By now, Ruka's face was far from pale. It was a dashing shade of red. "N-no way. It's not like I'm starting to like her or anything..." He looked away.

Natsume stared at him for a moment but then shrugged it off and walked away, towards the kitchen. "You are so obvious." He muttered under his breath.

"Did you say something just now?"

"Nope."

**-:x:-**

ilovebunnies: my cast looks like a comic strip actually -_-

summerhero: lol, how come?

ilovebunnies: kokoro drew what happened on power rangers last night in stick figures D:

summerhero: AHAHAHA

ilovebunnies: -_- i wanted bunnies or cute care bears at least...:'(

summerhero: lol well there's always next time.

ilovebunnies: true :3

summerhero: so this very handsome Natsume guy helped you out, right?

ilovebunnies: yea! he did and I'm thankful :D

ilovebunnies: i haven't seen him in a while though...

summerhero: do you want to see him?

ilovebunnies: of course! he'd make my day if he did that but ..i know he's busy and all D: but i do, i really do!

summerhero: maybe he'll visit you soon...just wait for him.

**-:x:-**

As soon as Mikan's grandfather had left the hospital for a stop by at the grocery store, new visitors arrived.

"Wake up, Mikan." Hotaru shook her lightly. The brunette groaned and rolled over, refusing to awaken from her comfortable snooze.

Hotaru sighed in frustration. A giggly Nonoko took Hotaru by her shoulder and whispered something into her ear. Then a sudden glint appeared on a pair of lavender eyes .

"Mikan...wake up." Hotaru shook her once more, this time a little less gentle and forceful. "NATSUME'S HERE TO SEE YOU." She boomed, making sure the lazy brunette could hear her loud and clear.

Mikan shot up quickly in a gasp and consciously fixed her hair immediately. "W-wha.." Then she realized he was not present at all. Mikan pouted at Hotaru's tease.

"You guys...!" She fumed. Nonoko and Anna, who came to visit Mikan with Hotaru had their shoulders shaking and hands covered over their mouths, in a attempt to stop the laughter building up within them.

"It was really hard to wake you up, sorry. Survival one-oh-one." Hotaru shrugged, this time with a tiny hint of amusement playing on her lips.

"Hey for the last time, please stop teasing me about Na-"

She was cut off by the sudden sound of the white hospital door sliding open.

Nonoko and Anna's jaw dropped simultaneously at the sight and their two pairs of eyes were bulging out of their surprised faces. Hotaru just stared, expressionless as always. "Speaking of which…he's actually here."

Natsume walked into the room alongside his blond friend Ruka. Suddenly the entire room brightened and a wave of fresh air swooped in, mesmerizing Mikan. She felt tingly. For one, they looked absolutely flawless. Oh god, especially Natsume. He was wearing such casual clothes, but why did he look so exceptionally handsome? And also she realized, he was actually here. He actually bothered to visit her! Mikan's insides turned all mushy at the thought of it and she felt that sudden reaction again, the reaction that only seemed to happen when her eyes caught the sight of Natsume. Her heart roared and began accelerating in her chest, and it was followed by the uncomfortable rush of flying objects in her stomach.

"Y-you're here to visit me, Natsume?" She couldn't hide the heat on her face.

Nonoko grinned and winked at him. "You lady killer, Natsume!"

Natsume raised his brow."Are you kidding me? I'm here to give you the bill." He clicked his tongue.

"What bill?" Mikan's eyes furrowed together as her blush darkened in confusion and mortification.

"For making me carry you all the way to the ambulance after you fainted. Duh." Natsume held out his hand and gave her a piece of white, fancy paper. "My services don't come cheap."

The brunette's eyes popped. She scanned down the page and saw a jaw breaking price total of two-thousand and thirty nine dollars and ninety-nine cents.

Her eyes popped in disbelief. "Wha- You can't charge someone this much for something you did freely!" She argued. "Besides, why does paying for your shirt, your pants and school socks count?"

"You stained them with your blood."

"B-but the whole uniform set only costs less than two hundred dollars, not two thousand!"

"My uniform was specially made."

"You liar, it can't be specially ma-"

"-Specially made in The Neverland."

"Don't you mean Netherlands, there's no such thing!"

"'Cause you don't believe, polka."

"Hmph. Liar." She crossed her arms, cheeks puffed.

Natsume stared at her, his eyes rolling up and down. He realized she had tiny bandages around her arms, one a large cast around her foot, and more bandages sprawling up the same leg. He became distracted when Mikan suddenly placed both hands on her injured leg protectively, obviously conscious of the intense stare she was getting from Natsume. He met her eyes once more and she became startled at their sudden connection. He broke away in a snap however, and headed for the door calmly. Natsume turned back at the blushing brunette and her now silent visitors. "Well, I need to fly back to Tokyo. Later." He mouthed nonchalantly as he coolly shoved his hands into the pockets of his faded jeans.

Ruka was hushed the whole time. "Sorry that we could only visit for a short amount of time." He sent Mikan and the girls and apologetic look. "Natsume refused to board any plane until he saw how you were doing." He smiled.

"Eh?" Mikan's heart thudded loudly.

"So we're kinda running late." Ruka chuckled. "Take care now and get well soon." The blond smiled warmly again. He turned to Nonoko. "Bye Nonoko, Anna." They both gave him a giggly goodbye. And he then turned to Hotaru. He felt the heat rushing onto his face already."B-bye Hotaru..." He trailed off shyly, unable to meet her captivating lavender eyes.

With a final smile from Ruka, they both opened the door and Natsume looked back one last time before exiting completely.

**-:x:-**

ilovebunnies: but is there really a place called 'The Neverland'? o.o

summerhero: lol I think thats for him to know and for you to find out

ilovebunnies: :/ i don't think I'll ever find out but oh well xD

summerhero: oh btw. when you had that accident why didnt you have shoes?

ilovebunnies: um I couldn't find it when it was time for PhysEd

summerhero: huh?

ilovebunnies: i think someone stole it o.o

summerhero: oh for real?

ilovebunnies: yeah.. but oh well xD i think it's good that it all happened :D

summerhero: you crazy? a glass shard almost ripped through your foot.

ilovebunnies: but i got so much support from everyone that i love! so it's all good :D

summerhero: your optimism is killing me hahah

**-:x:-**

After four comforting and pain-healing days in the hospital, Mikan was back at her usual routine from home to school. This time however, due to the circumstances of her foot, she had to take the train instead of walking. Walking injured with only crutches to support her did deem too tiring for her, but she had enough energy to make it from her house to the train station, which was a block away. Her Grandfather worried for her, of course, but she insisted that she would be fine. Mikan was fit and healthy after all, and had sack load of youthful energy to burn out and use.

Mikan's first day back to school with her injuries wasn't all too great. She was all too focused and she struggled on her crutches, as a result she had almost forgotten her bag on the train. Fortunately, a kind lady had stopped her before she had gotten off. Mikan was grateful, if not for that lady; she would be bag and book-less as of this moment. Luckily again, the rain that had been raging and hiding in the clouds in the early morning mist had only begun to pour as soon as she got to school. She had shelter. However, bad luck came back and continued to pester her when she supposedly "lost" her umbrella. It was surprisingly not in her locker, where she had certainly last left it. Suspicions of theft swarmed over her, but decided to shrug it off. There would be one less rain soaked student then, she thought optimistically. Sadly for her though, there was no shelter in the walks between the school ground's buildings and facilities. Oh joy.

The brunette met up with her friend Anna at the East wing building. As expected, she was soaked. Mikan was suddenly regretting that she didn't bring her school rain jacket just in case…

Anna gasped. "Mikan! You're so soaked!"

The brunette giggled and shrugged. Anna just shook her head and smiled at her cute response. "You know, you should have asked me for an umbrella. I had a spare." Anna said as she wrapped her arm around Mikan, giving her a light hug. Anna rummaged into her bag and took out a packet of tissues. With a swift pull, she had taken a tissue out and was already wiping Mikan's rain poured face.

Mikan grinned. "Thanks Anna! You're a life saver!" The dampness on her face was actually beginning to feel uncomfortable. Thankfully, Anna was a kind one.

"Hey, what are friends for? Don't sweat it." She smiled as she threw the tissues away. Glancing at a now face-dry and grinning Mikan, she laughed. _So cute._

"We should go now, or we'll be late. "

Mikan was finally on her way with Anna onto the next class in schedule but had stopped at her tracks when her ears caught a familiar voice calling out. Anna spun around first, then eyed Mikan, and grinned. She nudged Mikan in the ribs playfully. "Turn around!" Anna whispered.

"Polka, you dropped this." A hair-soaked brunette spun her head over her shoulder, only to find Natsume holding a handkerchief. Her handkerchief.

She smiled thankfully and took it. Mikan's innocent smile however soon stretched into a sly grin. "I wiped 3 hours worth of snot on that."

Natsume immediately wiped his hands on his pants and he groaned. "Polka you..."

The brunette giggled. "Just kidding. Thanks Natsume."

"You better be kidding. If not, I'll have to soak my hand in acid."

She poked her tongue at him. "Meanie."

Natsume raised his brow suspiciously at her, eying her up and down. "Hey...why are you so soaked?" He asked curiously, as his sight lingered onto her wet hair and dampened clothes. When he caught a glimpse of her this morning, he was so sure she had an umbrella protruding from her bag. It was a polka dot patterned one, he remembered. Weird. He seemed to notice that pattern a lot nowadays.

"Oh." She laughed as she scratched her nose. "I lost my umbrella, that's all. Walking from the main building to here without an umbrella isn't all that bad." She smiled and waved him goodbye.

The brunette then took her crutches and headed on with Anna to their next class.

Natsume watched her from the back as she slightly struggled using her crutches. He surprisingly felt his shoulders drop. A foreign tide of emotion waved over him. That annoying pang in his chest came back again. As he gave out a frustrated sigh, it disappeared. This was seriously starting to irritate him. His body was giving in to new emotions that he had not given permission for. Damn. He still couldn't help but question himself. What was it that he felt just now, when he saw her struggling like that? His eyes found its way out the large and intricately framed glass window, and he was peering out onto the outer school grounds. He noticed the rain was pouring heavily against it.

_Won't she get sick? _He thought. The bell rang and the loud ringing had him averting from his cloudy mind.

"Shoot. What am I getting so distracted for?" Natsume muttered under his breath.

**-:x:-**

Lunchtime

At last Natsume had some peace and quiet. It was just him, his guitar, and the now soon to be music-enriched room. It was spacious and appropriately decorated, he observed. It was a simple classroom, yet deemed fitting for its purpose; a room for music. The soundproof padding along the walls was obvious and appropriate. The glass windows were covered with bright curtains and they were impossible to miss in such a seemingly dull yet refreshing classroom. The bright citrus color they reflected was indeed a well thought color for the room, as the results came across well. It definitely lifted the whole room. It was different, he thought. Posters of musical legends, from classical to modern pop were aligned on the wall. It was like a hall of fame. A row of shelves were aligned by the padded walls, and were filled with what looked like CD's, textbooks, music scores and even DVD's of all sorts. There were even computers, and sets of mini midi keyboards connected to them, for composing. There were at least two upright pianos, a row of six-octave keyboards and a drum kit organized neatly at the corner. It was really spacious. He eyed the door of what looked like a storage room on his left hand side. It was labeled "instruments". Ah, there were probably more instruments in store.

He dropped his guitar case onto the hard carpet covered floor and sat comfortably on a chair. After propping open his case and placing his guitar into playing position, Natsume noticed that his fingers were much calloused than he had previously remembered.

His fingers as a young child were marked with distinct signs of practices with metallic strings. Natsume's mother kept encouraging him, to continue improving and to strive as a musician…because she could already see that playing guitar was something he had come to love greatly. A prodigy he was, much too advanced at the delicate age of eight. His talent however, shone even brighter as he began taking on composing and arranging. His fingers soon became quite calloused because of his guitar, but after his mother passed away, he had stopped playing completely. The callousness of his fingers soon faded away. He hadn't known why but...he just couldn't bear the sight of a guitar. Any instrument, really. He was too reminded of his mother, who was the support, the lifting spirit behind his music. And the reality hit him. She was already gone, vanished from the depths of the earth forever. Slowly, one by one he closed off his emotions and avoided everything. His family, his friends, and the main thing his life seemed to revolve around at the time…music. Soon enough his guitar became dusty, and remained unused for years.

But then his sister was diagnosed with cancer.

Aoi, who was only eight at the time, Natsume at ten, had developed an eye damaging cancer called Retinoblastoma. She lost her eyesight, and became permanently blind. That one summery day was still as vivid as ever, when he had arrived at the hospital upon such shocking news, and a teary-eyed sister was propped onto her bed waiting for him. Natsume's father was there at the scene already, face buried hopelessly in his hands.

Those same words flashed in his memory. "Promise me that you'll continue to play."

From that day on he didn't turn back.

Every day he would play for his sister, compose and try new styles for her to listen to. The smile and laughter it bought upon her face was priceless. The music filled moments they shared uplifted her spirits just as much as Natsume's. Suddenly he wasn't so… scared anymore. Yes, seeing such an instrument had him thinking of his mother, but also it reminded him of his sister. Gradually, his passion came, and it was the passion that was never lost –only forgotten and ignored beneath dust. Soon Natsume's passion for music was soaring. He became a much more outstanding and confident musician at the solid age of twelve. He was discovered through videos of his younger days leaked into the internet and was offered a label. Soon enough his career was blooming by thirteen. Natsume took headlines all over the world, naming him the "Thirteen Year Old Prodigy" and soon enough he began tours all over Asia, and eventually Europe. It wasn't all roses however, there was bound to be thorns in his path. Before long, Natsume was receiving more and more attention for his talent, and his handsome features certainly proved much help. He had no time for his friends, his family, and barely any time for himself. His fame, fortune and looks were taken advantage of by his company label and they had finally crossed the line. Natsume was outraged and infuriated. He was at his limits.

Now at sixteen, thanks to his father's thoughtfulness, Natsume had moved to a place where hopefully things can finally calm themselves. Where the storm may finally die down…

The boy hadn't realized he was unconsciously playing a lullaby, during the thoughtful minutes that had passed by.

However fingers halted themselves as Natsume was suddenly distracted by a giggle. He turned towards the door, where the direction of the familiar sound was coming from.

The brunette was there, peeking through the now slightly opened entrance. Her cheeks were red and puffed, lips pursed, as if she was holding a burst of laughter inside.

Natsume stared at her with blank eyes. "If you're here to laugh at me, feel free to leave." Mikan immediately dropped into a startled expression. "I'm sorry..." She trailed off. "I actually came here to listen to you."

He continued to stare at her impassively. "You were laughing."

"N-no! The way you played just now was amazing." Mikan quickly asserted, worried that he'd gotten the wrong idea. She was absolutely marveled by his lullaby, actually. "But it was just so adorable..." She released another hearty giggle at the thought.

"Adorable?"

"The way you sway with your guitar!"

Natsume just gazed at the brunette. He felt…well, quite surprised. "You noticed that?"

Mikan soon failed to suppress her burst of heaving chuckles.

"Yeah! I've watched you play too many times that it's impossible not to notice, Natsume." Mikan smiled. Her curious eyes trailed around the room, then back to Natsume and his guitar. "I guess I better go. Sorry to interrupt." Mikan said rather apologetically.

"Wait." Natsume stood, guitar in one hand. He walked across the room, towards the stacks of chairs down the corner. He dragged it along, now both hands occupied, and propped it down directly in front of his own chair.

"What are you doing..." Mikan trailed off into a whisper.

Natsume stared at her, as if waiting for her to sit on the seat he had just arranged. "Well?" He said. "This time it's free."

Mikan laughed as she realized Natsume was inviting her to sit with him.

He hadn't known why, just exactly why…he did what he did just now. He barely invited anyone to sit with him besides his sister, let alone an annoyingly giggly brunette for that matter. But Natsume knew one thing for sure; as of right now he had definitely wanted Mikan to be his mini audience for the next hour.

**-:x:-**

Mikan swayed lightly against the cold hard rock of the sheltered school gates, humming softly to pass the time. The sound of his guitar still lingered vividly in her ears…

For Mikan, it had been a dream come true. The closeness, the comforting company of two, the beautiful lullabies she thought she would only be able to hear through earphones…the more she thought about it, the more she came to realize how surreal it was. It was truly a dream come true. Mikan still couldn't believe what had just happened. It had been a curious lunchtime that had led to a surprisingly serene concert between two unlikely people. It was too unreal...

She was just an ordinary fan in his eyes after all.

Mikan's hazel eyes stared at the raging raindrops before her eyes. The rain wouldn't stop. Nor did it look like it was stopping any time soon. She gripped the one crutch in her hand. Mikan had now relied on only one crutch for support, and had left the other in her form room, seeing as two crutches was becoming too bothersome. Now, she had nothing to do but wait till the rain stopped. Her umbrella was no where to be found, and her injured foot would make it all the more difficult to get home without catching a cold.

She sighed. "Maybe I should have just stayed at Anna's house until the rain stopped." All her friends had offered a car ride or shelter, however she insisted that her grandpa would be able to pick her up after he had done groceries and that he was only a push of a button away.

Unfortunately, her phone died soon after she sent her friends off.

With another depressing sigh, Mikan continued waiting on until the minutes passed by.

Her brunette head perked upwards when she heard splashing footsteps in the distance. Through the thick rain, it seemed as if there was a dark silhouette coming towards her. Mikan rubbed her eyes. The more she squinted, the closer it seemed the silhouette was.

There was definitely no one around here, and the only people left in the school were staff. He was certainly heading towards her. She…she was starting to get nervous.

_A-a…ninja._

"This is how I die…" Mikan clutched her one crutch protectively in front of her body, in an attempt of defense. "Not if I can help it!"

Finally, a tall boy appeared before her and she was startled. Her defense was in full form. Clutches in hand, and pepper spray ready in the other.

The boy, who seemed unusually familiar, had a black raincoat lidded over his head and dark hair, hiding most of his face. She could strangely make out the color of his eyes, and it looked as if it was a dark shade of crims-

The boy suddenly held out an umbrella and shoved it forward, insisting she should take it. Mikan was taken aback by his sudden movement.

"Um…excuse me?" She stuttered, but spoke rather loudly over the heavily pouring rain around them.

He said nothing as he outstretched his arm further and holding his umbrella out to her. Mikan was confused as ever. "Um..?" The tall boy shoved the handle forcefully yet gently onto her cold hands and nodded.

Before she could say anything more, the boy had already disappeared, running umbrella-less into the thick rain. She could already see his dark silhouette far in the distance.

"Thank you!" Mikan yelled, hoping it would reach him over the pouring rain. His silhouette faded in the rain and he did not look back.

As Mikan gratefully walked off with her borrowed umbrella grasped tightly in one hand, support crutch in the other, she made an astounding discovery.

She saw something vividly written on the navy handles of the umbrella.

_Summerhero._

* * *

ANDDD done! :D thanks for the read everyone!

Thanks to **CheddurLeHomicidalButler** (your name is genius by the way, genius), **nix**, **xia20035** and **Ilovebunniez **for your lovely reviews!

**momocandy- **You are too sweet! And kind! Seriously, your review had me grinning like an idiot. You've really lifted my spirits, hehe ^^ Thank you for the lovely support, dear :3

**spica14**- Yessirey, the shards did pierce her arms TT_TT …I feel evil LOL I'll try to hold back from now on xD… but anyways, thanks a bunch for your review! ^^

Please take note that I may not be able to publish until a couple days or so, because my term break is ending and I have to begin studying for my exams. TT_TT boohoo. If only I wasn't so lazy… /sigh. But anyways,  
hope to see you G.A fans soon! ^^

paintstains


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